| |February 201719CIOReviewchain and logistics executives, who are usually always on the go, rely on their phones and tablets to track consignments, firefight crises, send reports, and so on. Google's develop-ment of Android and keeping it ro-bust is almost a blessing for each one of us. Apps are the way to go in most businesses, and we in supply chain and logistics are no exception. Industry experts also believe that 3D printing will revolutionize supply chain and logistics by helping busi-nesses maintain lower levels of inven-tory, give a better idea of products to end-consumers, and that of raw material to manufacturers. Since 3D printing means a closer relationship between a product's designs, engi-neering, manufacturing and mar-keting, working on the end-product becomes far easier. Not just that, re-petitive tasks during the production process might be eliminated. Goog-le's interest in 3D printing since 2013 has grown manifold and its partner-ship with companies such as Shape-ways and investment in a 3D printing startup such as Carbon3D (Google Ventures led the 100 million USD funding in the company last year) are proof enough. And those who think wearable technology as merely a fad for geeks, you couldn't be more wrong. Cloud technology works wonderfully for supply chain & logistics executives who have wearable gadgets on them. From order picking, routing, track-ing, monitoring, to data collection, inventory management in real-time, these gadgets can do it all. Wearable devices such as, Google's extremely popular Google Glass- an optical head-mounted display, can help you provide and transfer any and every kind of data. Armed with the internet of things (IoT), several warehouse and transportation functions not only become faster and more accu-rate, but also the functions get safer due to monitoring of the executive's own vital signs. In conclusion, Google and its technology have opened up a whole new world of how we do business, shop, save and, last but not the least, look for information. It is no exag-geration to say that any company that still hasn't adapted itself to capitalize on it will always be participant, never the winner. Supply chain and logis-tics companies included. Google and its technology have opened up a whole new world of how we do business, shop, save and, last but not the least, look for information
< Page 9 | Page 11 >